Energy Efficiency and Smart Electrical Upgrades in Stoney Creek

Stoney Creek was folded into the City of Hamilton in 2001. The City names two of its wards for the town: Ward 9 is Upper Stoney Creek, above the escarpment, and Ward 10 is Lower Stoney Creek, below it. The housing in the two wards is of different ages, and that changes which energy upgrades are worth doing first. Below is how we would think about each, then the upgrade options that suit any Stoney Creek home, and what to expect from your electricity prices. Our Stoney Creek page covers the rest of our work in town.

Newer Homes in Upper Stoney Creek

The City's ward data shows 21.3 percent of the homes in Ward 9 were built from 2016 to 2021. A house that new has current wiring, but builder lighting tends to be sparse: a single fixture in the middle of a room, plain switches and little outdoor light. That makes lighting the obvious place to start. LED pot lights laid out for the room, dimmers rated for LED loads, and sensor switches in the garage and laundry room cut wasted power and make the rooms easier to use. Before adding a heat pump or a charger, a load calculation still shows whether the service has room for it.

Older Homes in Lower Stoney Creek

Ward 10 has more older housing, with 25.1 percent of its homes dating from 1961 to 1980 and 9.9 percent from 1960 or before. Some of the wartime houses down there went up with panels of only 60 amps. In a house like that, a new heat pump or an electric vehicle (EV) charger may need a circuit the old service cannot carry. There the energy plan starts at the panel, with a load calculation that shows what it can take. Lighting is the easier win, because LED fixtures draw less than the ones they replace and can usually go on the circuits already in the walls.

Upgrade Options for Any Stoney Creek Home

LED and motion lighting: pot lights, strips under the kitchen cabinets, and porch and path lights on sensors or timers.

Programmable controls: a programmable or smart thermostat, plus smart switches and smart receptacles that run lamps and small appliances on a schedule.

Circuits for efficient appliances: a dedicated circuit for each heat pump, induction cooktop or Level 2 EV charger, sized after a load calculation of the whole house.

Our guides go further on each: seven ways to lower your electricity bill, energy-saving electrical upgrades and LED pot light installation.

Who Delivers Your Power, and When It Costs Less

The former City of Stoney Creek is in the area of the distribution licence held by Alectra Utilities, so Alectra is the utility that delivers power there. The price of the electricity itself, on the regulated plans, is set by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) and changes each November 1. Under time-of-use pricing, and under the ultra-low overnight plan, the late night hours are the cheap ones. Moving the dryer, the dishwasher or the car charger to those hours lowers what each load costs without any new equipment.

Are Smart Electrical Upgrades Worth It?

It depends on what you change and how you use the house. LED lighting and controls lower your use of whatever they control from the first month. How long any upgrade takes to pay for itself turns on your usage and your rate plan, so we do not put a number on it. Panel and circuit work is a different kind of upgrade: it makes room for efficient equipment the house could not run before. On the walk-through, we will tell you which changes we think are worth making in your house and which we would skip.

Related Articles

• 7 Ways to Lower Your Electricity Bill

• Top Energy-Saving Electrical Upgrades for Your Home

• LED Pot Light Installation: Transform Your Hamilton Home Room by Room

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